The regeneration of the 1960s Abbey Estate, located between Norwich and Cambridge, will take place over 20 years

1. The Abbey illustration 2

How the scheme could look when built

Levitt Bernstein has submitted an outline planning application for a 1,100-home scheme in Thetford.

Flagship Homes, a 32,000-home housing association based in the East of England, is planning to retrofit some of the existing homes on the Abbey Estate and replace others with new, “far more energy-efficient” homes.

The plan submitted also seeks permission to build an additional 320 to 500 homes at the site, however, this figure is still to be confirmed and will be subject to further consultation.

The regeneration project will deliver a new neighbourhood park and community centre, and better walking and cycling routes to the town centre, Little Ouse riverside and Thetford Forest.

The Abbey Estate was built between the late 1960s and early 1970s after Thetford signed up to the Town Expansion Scheme in the 1950s.

Peter Hawes, Flagship Group’s chairman, said: “The outline planning application follows five years of talking to the people who have a home on the Abbey.

He added: “Local people have told us that they do want to see improvements for the Abbey and they’ve let us know what things could be better.”

Hawes emphasised that the planning application is for the principle of making changes to the Abbey, and doesn’t set out details of what would happen.

He recognised that “a regeneration project of this size must be delivered in multiple phases”, adding that local people will be consulted on the detailed designs at each phase.

6. The Abbey

The existing estate was built in the 1960s and 1970s

There will be 10 phases to the regeneration, and each phase will take around one and half to two years and deliver around 150-200 homes. 

Flagship plans to fund an independent tenants and leaseholders advisor to act as a “resource for the community” as the plans progress.

Hawes said: “This will be someone who will be entirely independent of Flagship and who will be chosen with the community.

“The advisor will act on behalf of all residents, whether you’re a tenant, homeowner, private tenant, or landlord.”

In a financial statement published in February, Flagship reported a turnover of £189m for the nine months to 31 December, up from £137m the previous year.

The association also said it completed 465 homes for affordable tenures over the nine-month period, up 32% from 353 last year. 

Topics